Description

...with care and love he bore the young earth to the surface of the seas in his arms...

This is the largest of a very rare icon we have ever come across. It is Narasimha, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, with his consort Lakshmi sat on his knee. The pose is a classical one, seen with many other gods such as Vishnu (Lakshminaryana), Rama (Sitarama), Ganesh (Ganapati Devi) etc.

The size of this image would certainly mean it came from a temple and that it was under worship for several hundred years. At some point the prabhavali and cobra must have become damaged (maybe during puja) and the temple commissioned a replacement. Images of this size are extremely rare.

The conditions is very good. There are some areas of bronze loss, as would be expected given the piece's age, and some minor cracks have appeared. The bronze is a very reddish colour which would indicate a high copper content. Although there are signs of wear it still remain a spectacular image.

Today it would be almost impossible to find a similar image outside of a top 10 auction house, where it would command a high price because of its size, condition and rarity of subject.

We are pleased to be able to showcase such an incredible piece.